Nadja Swarovski seeks to be close to fashion, film, design and music stars. Under her direction, the shimmering glass crystals of the family business became hip it-pieces, as they were at the beginning of the 20th century, when film divas like Marilyn Monroe relied entirely on Swarovski.
Youth between glamor and outsiderdom
Nadja in Swarovski great-great-grandfather Daniel Swarovski, a working class kid, founded the company in 1895 and supplied glittering crystals for Queen Victoria, with which she had her royal dresses embroidered. Grandfather Manfred Swarovski collaborated with fashion pope Christian Dior to create the iconic Aurora Borealis stones. These shimmered as if they had captured the Northern Lights. Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli were also among the buyers of the precious glass stones. Later, father Helmut Swarovski ensured that the company was state-of-the-art. When Nadja Swarovski was born in 1970, the family certainly did not lack financial means, the amount of which can only be estimated, since the Swarovskis were considered financially “Austria’s most discreet family” are valid.
Nevertheless, the crystal clan is not only considered by the press “Austria’s Rockefellers” titled, but also as “Tyrol’s Buddenbrooks”, he repeatedly causes scandals – including quarrels in management, but also private liaisons that are considered spicy. Nadja Swarovski felt like an outsider: although she grew up sheltered and spoiled in a large family, as a Lutheran she had one difficult situation at school. If there was Catholic religious instruction, she had to go outside. At the age of 14, she fled the confines of the 7,700-resident community of Wattens. First she visited Elite Boarding School Salem, following that the High school and university in the USA.
There, too, she was initially considered strange. Here she became according to “Manager Magazin” seen as “the Austrian with the Arnold Schwarzenegger accent”. “If no one believes in you, you have to believe in yourself,” she decided there.
Nadja Swarovski’s first career steps in the USA
Nadja Swarovski bit through. In Texas, her mother’s homeland, she received her degree from Southern Methodist University Bachelor in Art History and Foreign Languages, she took Latin American Studies as a minor. Thus armed, she went to New York. There she studied at the renowned Sotheby’s Institute of Art the auction business and at the Gemological Institute of America, which deals with Gemstone and Jewelery Knowledge occupied. New York also gave her the first career opportunities: she worked as an assistant to top gallery owner Larry Gagosian at the Gagosian Gallery, then for the PR agency of the grande dame of fashion journalism, Eleanor Lambert. But she might not escape the reputation of the family business for long.
Immerse yourself in the Swarovski family business
And so Nadja Swarovski moved once more. In Hong Kong she worked for the family’s crystal empire for the first time and thus represented the fifth generation of crystal entrepreneurs. For 16 months she systematically analyzed the jewelry business. She mightn’t stay there any longer; she went back to New York to develop branding and creative services for Swarovski. She opened it just around the corner from Tiffany’s on the Upper East Side ersten Swarovski-Showroom. Until then, the stones were not presented elegantly by sales representatives from the sample case. Stations in Paris, London and Singapore will follow.
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The famous Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in New York has had a Swarovski star on top for many years.
Back to the Roots: Swarovski goes High Fashion
Ever since Nadja Swarovski joined the family business in the mid-1990s, she has been the driving force Collaborations between Swarovski and fashion icons Ahead. Fired up by an encounter with stylist Isabella Bow, who wistfully raved to the acting head of the family regarding the days when Swarovski and high fashion went hand in hand, father Helmut approved of the new, old strategy. Bow then sends her protégé Julien Macdonald to Wattens to design a beaded dress for her protégé Julien Macdonald – and Nadja delved deep into London’s fashion scene with the eccentric. The result was the Cooperation with top-class designers like Alexander McQueen.
Pure glamour: Swarovski and Hollywood
Nadja Swarovski also sought proximity to the film industry once more – following all, the family might look back on a long tradition here. For example, Swarovski stones had a prominent appearance in film classics such as “Blondes Prefer” with Marilyn Monroe or “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” with Audrey Hepburn. In the meantime, however, the company has focused more on knick-knacks – just think of the Swarovski swan, which was a must in every glass showcase in the 1980s! Nadja Swarovski provided it The stone a glamorous and especially ultramodernes Comeback – not least with films like “Moulin Rouge”. Nicole Kidman or “Black Swan” with Natalie Portman. Also on her list of hits were 2012’s Bond Skyfall and Disney’s live stage adaptation of Cinderella.
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Nadja Swarovski at the Cannes Film Festival
Nadja Swarovski and the celebrities
Nadja Swarovski remained true to the principle of collaborating with influential stars, expanded the field of fashion and film but also on music and lifestyle. From then on, the costume designers of stage greats such as Madonna, Beyoncé or Jennifer Lopez relied on the rhinestones from Tyrol. But the top fashion designers of the era were also included: Swarovski crystals might be found in the collections of Jean Paul Gaultier and Karl Lagerfeld. It was also Gaultier who shot the documentary “The Soul of Swarovski” together with filmmaker Eric Valli in 2018.
Despite the success, the Ideas from Nadja Swarovski within the family according to “Manager Magazin” long time considered “expensive nonsense”, as her cousin Daniel Cohen put it on record. Nadja Swarovski, who wears a ring from her Nirvana collection, shot according to Deutsche Bank Wealth Management back: “I’m the customer who knows how it feels to wear this ring on her finger. Unfortunately, my cousins don’t know that.”
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Nadja Swarovski with top model Karlie Kloss at the CFDA Fashion Awards in New York
In the meantime, the Swarovski crystals, long decried as stuffy, can no longer be missing anywhere where the extra touch of glamor is important. Designers such as Jimmy Choo, Stuart Weitzman and Roberto Cavalli integrate them into their collections, as do the great couture palaces from Lanvin to Balenciaga. Even the one considered old-fashioned Swarovski chandelier is directed by Nadja Swarovski back to the it piece Interior-Designs become, dusted by world-class architects like Zaha Hadid.
Real success is sustainable, fair and social
Nadja Swarovski fought, despite all resistance within the family, as first woman to join the company’s management team before. In 2011 she managed to get into the five-member Board of Directors of the Swarovski Group to advance Between 2012 and 2020 she was responsible for the company’s sustainability strategy and took care of its social responsibility. She always kept the founding principles of Daniel Swarovski in mind. Their management respected the well-being of people and planet by committing to the production of sustainable and ethical luxury goods.
Gender equality was also one of her heart topics. Consequently, in 2013 she founded the philanthropic “Swarovski Foundation“, to support social organizations and initiatives in three areas: culture and creativity, human rights and empowerment, and environmental protection. With the “Swarovski Foundation Center for Learning”, the foundation has its own center in the London Design Museum. In addition, Nadja Swarovski directed the “Swarovski Waterschool“, a learning program that sensitizes students on six continents to the safe and sustainable use of water.
Nadja Swarovski’s departure from the family business
While at the local company headquarters in Wattens the tourist attraction “Crystal worlds“, Nadja Swarovski made sure that the company was at the top internationally. For example, with high-tech wearables with crystal, such as a watch launched in Las Vegas that transmits light to a miniature solar panel. But the internal family quarrels were too much: In December 2021, Nadja Swarovski left the family business following 26 years.
Nadja Swarovski in the Opera Ball Committee
Since 2021, Nadja Swarovski has also been a member of the Opera Ball Committee, which supports the Vienna State Opera and director Bogdan Roscic in organizing the renowned ball – instead of the former “Opera Ball Lady”. In addition to Nadja Swarovski, Birgit Reitbauer, director of the Steirereck, and Mayam Yeganehfar, international event planner, are also members of the committee, all of whom are volunteers in this function.
Family above all: Nadja Swarovski privately
Nadja Swarovski guards her family life, but always gives insights on Instagram. she is married to hedge fund manager Rupert Adams, you live in an elegant apartment in London’s noble district of Chelsea. There she drinks green smoothies in the morning and goes jogging regularly to meet the challenges of being a full-time mother. Swarovski has three children: Thalia Adams, Rigby Adams und Jasmine Adams. Although she has not forgotten the internal quarrels of her family of origin, she is certain: “Having your own family is the greatest gift,” she says sea ”welt.de”. She consistently keeps the weekends free for these.
What you can learn from Nadja Swarovski
To prevail once morest all odds. When nobody believes in you, you have to believe in yourself. Motto: Right now. And: Nadja Swarovski knows when it’s time to go. At some point the resistance will wear you down. Then you have to decide whether you want to continue fighting a battle once morest windmills – or save your peace of mind.
